A federal court in Massachusetts ordered a Weymouth restaurant owner to pay $344,798 in back wages and damages to 13 workers who were reportedly denied overtime and tips they earned, according to a Feb. 11 U.S. Department of Labor news release.
The owner of the restaurant is said to have deliberately deprived workers of their wages and tips. They will have to pay $159,899 in back wages and tips, an equal amount in liquidated damages plus another $25,000 in punitive damages, according to the Department of Labor.
“Sweet Lemon Inc. and Pornthip Neampong disregarded the rights of their essential workers to receive fair pay and retaliated against employees who asserted their rights and cooperated with a federal investigation,” said Carlos Matos, Wage and Hour Division district director in Boston, said.
The Department of Labor was granted a motion for a summary judgment regarding numerous violations of federal law by Sweet Lemon Inc., the department reported. The order granting the Department of Labor’s motion was reportedly issued by a federal judge in Massachusetts.
The court determined the employers violated the Fair Labor Standards Act by failing to pay employees the appropriate rate of pay for overtime, kept all the servers' tips, failed to keep accurate records of work hours and wages and retaliated against workers by making them sign false statements, as well as reportedly interrogating an employee to find out if they spoke with the Wage and Hour Division, the Department of Labor reported.
